State police accused a Butler man of striking another man in the head with a piece of reinforcement steel, rendering him unconscious at an Evans City home Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Thomas J. Clark, 31, was charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor simple assault and taken to the Butler County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail Friday.

The injured man, identified as James J. Smith, suffered a fractured skull and a brain bleed and remains in critical condition, according to charging documents. Smith was flown from a Franklin Township restaurant to a Pittsburgh hospital following the alleged assault.

Police said they responded to Michael’s Restaurant on Route 422 around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday for reports of an unconscious man in a blue Pontiac.

The man, later identified as Smith, was found to have suffered a head injury and was transported by Butler Ambulance Service to Moraine Elementary School, where a medical helicopter flew him to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh.

A woman interviewed by police said she witnessed the attack on Smith at a home in Evans City before he was brought to Michael’s Restaurant and 911 was called.

The woman said she and Smith drove to a home on Pheasant Drive in Evans City on Wednesday. They both exited the vehicle, and Smith entered the residence ahead of the woman.

Police said the woman recalled seeing Smith in the doorway before he fell to the ground, and Clark was seen standing over him, striking his lower extremities with an unknown object. Police later found the item to be a piece of reinforced steel, or rebar.

Police said the woman said she tended to Smith, who was lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

Documents showed Clark was asked if he struck the man with the piece of reinforcement steel. Clark indicated he “sucker-punched” Smith before he fell and hit his head.

Police said the woman recalled being told by Clark to not call police and to tell medical personnel at the hospital Smith was injured in a dirt bike crash.

Police said Smith then was taken to Michael’s Restaurant.

Clark wasn’t arrested until Friday, but police said the piece of rebar allegedly used in the assault was found in a vehicle that crashed Wednesday evening. Surveillance footage obtained Wednesday indicated Clark was the driver, but Clark fled the scene on foot, police said.

Around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a vehicle crash on Jamisonville Road, Center Township. Police said a Volkswagen Jetta struck a tree, and the driver, later identified as Clark, fled the scene on foot.

Documents showed a 25-inch piece of reinforcement steel with duct tape wrapped on one side was discovered in the Jetta.

According to police, witnesses identified Clark as the owner and operator of the Jetta, and said the vehicle was parked at the Pheasant Drive residence Wednesday when Clark was there.

On Thursday, police said blood was found near the front doorway of the Pheasant Drive residence.

Clark was taken into custody Friday, according to documents. His preliminary hearing is scheduled Wednesday before District Judge Amy Marcinkiewicz.